For the first time in a generation, the great political poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) are being published as he wanted: in one dedicated volume, meant to be shared and debated.
This book contains a stunning burst of poetry written after Shelley learned of the Peterloo Massacre of August 1819, including some of the most famous protest poems in the English language: The Mask of Anarchy, Song to the Men of England, and Sonnet: England 1819.
Few of Shelley’s overtly political poems were published in his lifetime due to the repressive anti-revolutionary ethos of the English ruling caste. These seditious poems were passed underground and slowly became part of the literature of progressive movements from the Chartists of the 1840s through the labor movements of the 1910s. Indignant, fierce, and yet firmly humane, these poems still inspire and deserve a broader audience.
A beautiful design on lovely paper, it's a very nice gift for a Shelley admirer you might know.
Audio
We asked Seattle poet Kym Littlefield to read a few poems from this collection. We hope you agree that he has a beautiful voice.
